ANKARA: With neither presidential candidate passing the 50 percent threshold needed for an outright win, Turkiye’s voters head for a second round on Sunday to decide who will be their next leader.
In the first round, incumbent 69-year-old President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gained around 2.5 million more votes than his 74-year-old rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu. However, Erdogan’s 49.5 percent of the votes was not enough for an outright victory against Kilicdaroglu’s 44.9 percent.

RAMALLAH: Palestinians are outraged by the Israeli government’s move to hold a weekly Cabinet meeting on May 21 inside the tunnels it has dug under Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On Tuesday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on UNESCO to take note of the Israeli excavations in East Jerusalem.

For decades, Israel has been excavating under Al-Aqsa as part of a vague, historically motivated search for “Solomon’s Temple” in an attempt to justify the occupation through archeology.

NEW YORK: Palestinian refugees in the Middle East are facing a rising mental health crisis, with women and children particularly vulnerable, the leading official at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has warned.

Dr. Akihiro Seita, UNRWA director of health, told a press conference at the UN offices in Geneva on Tuesday that the mental health crisis is one of several challenges facing the agency in the region.

DUBAI: With Earth on the precipice as the devastating impacts of climate change loom ominously, it has become an urgent imperative to respond to this rapidly transforming world. As the international community prepares for the 28th Conference of the Parties, or COP28, hosted by the UAE, it is crucial to underscore the significance of this global gathering in addressing the complex interplay between climate resilience and conflict-affected regions.

DUBAI: Near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, workers are building a nuclear facility so deep in the earth that it is likely beyond the range of a last-ditch US weapon designed to destroy such sites, according to experts and satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press.
The photos and videos from Planet Labs PBC show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehran’s standoff with the West over its atomic program.